Band:	Intronaut
Album:	Fluid Existential Inversions
Style:	Post-metal, Atmospheric sludge metal
Release date:	February 28, 2020
A review by:	musclassia

01. Procurement Of The Victuals
02. Cubensis
03. The Cull
04. Contrapasso
05. Speaking Of Orbs
06. Tripolar
07. Check Your Misfortune
08. Pangloss
09. Sour Everythings

Five years and one drummer change later, Intronaut have followed up the tour de force that was The Direction Of Last Things, and despite the turbulence they've had to navigate in the intervening years, they remain every bit the powerhouse they previously were.

As much as Danny Walker's departure from Intronaut was necessary, it left the band without an important piece of their complex sonic jigsaw, with Walker's drumming style fitting seamlessly with the gnarly, twisting compositions the band consistently delivered with aplomb. Perhaps the band felt they had a point to prove about their relevance post-Walker, as first full song and lead single from Fluid Existential Inversions "Cubensis" offers a dazzling display by session drummer Alex Rüdinger; the percussion on this track is very much from the Brann Dailor "there's no bad time for a drum fill" school of thought. The rest of this song closely follows the prog/post-/sludge template developed on the band's previous efforts, with constant transitions, convoluted guitar work, and contrast between serene softer melodic sections and more jagged, sludgy riffing.

The following track on the record, "The Cull", is a more aggressive beast than "Cubensis", opening with dirty low-end guitars and rougher barked vocals, contrasting the semi-melodic/semi-shouted vocal approach on much of the previous track. This song also has more prominent (if still restrained) use of synths, oscillating in volume during a stretch early on in the song to add a further dynamic element to the cacophony already generated by the rest of the band, most notably the jazzy drum onslaught. In contrast to the thunderous intro, "The Cull" eventually transitions into a gentle second half, never threatening to unleash the aggression again as it glides through serene synth soundscapes with gentle guitar work. Within these first two songs alone, Intronaut display a wide range of approaches and array of skills without sounding forced or 'showy'.

After that point, there is no real let-up in quality throughout this wide-ranging, expansive album. "Contrapasso", with it's V-like structure, bookended by punchy riffs but gradually working its way down to nothing more than ambient synths by the midway point before building back up, acts as a consummate display of the different melodic approaches Intronaut can take. The band also does a good job of arranging the tracklist to maximize variety, which can be tricky when the songs themselves are so sprawling; the measured, more trudging nature of "Tripolar" allows the frenetic lead guitar work opening "Check Your Misfortune" to firmly grab the listener's attention. There is very little in the way of wasted runtime on Fluid Existential Inversions; rounding off proceedings, "Sour Everythings", perhaps the softest song on the record, makes for an excellent closer, with its bouncing grooves, measured development and progressively convoluting guitar work. This song (along with "The Cull") also features Ben Sharp of Cloudkicker fame guesting on guitar, continuing his collaboration with the band that served as the live backing band of Cloudkicker.

There's a lot to digest on Fluid Existential Inversions; mercifully, the production and mix, respectively delivered by longtime collaborator Josh Newell and Kurt Ballou of Converge, allows each instrument to shine in the maelstrom of sound regularly unleashed by Intronaut. Although I'll need more time to see how this new record stands up against the likes of Habitual Levitations and The Direction Of Last Things, there's no doubt that it serves as a strong addition to an increasingly impressive catalogue.